


A series of reports by the Ascian Lahabrea

by Kartaylir



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, Gen, Mission Report, Pre-Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:34:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27171151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kartaylir/pseuds/Kartaylir
Summary: These reports on events surrounding of the Seventh Astral Era are among those unearthed from the Crystal Tower. How exactly they came to be there is a mystery matched only by how such commentary from the Ascian known as Lahabrea was recorded by mortal hands in the first place.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 4
Collections: Fic In A Box





	A series of reports by the Ascian Lahabrea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cadmean](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cadmean/gifts).



## REGARDING THE MATTER OF ULTIMA

The matter of Ultima has proven a most useful one, with the relics of lost Allag once again serving our eternal purpose. Provision of the knowledge for the creation of primals has only ever been part of our noble goal of Rejoining. When have such beings ever been made from any cause other than great need? And none greater than our own.

If such a need does not exist, we must create it. The Garleans, despite their setbacks, have proven incredibly useful in such areas. Their failures may frustrate them, but they lack the patience of whole beings and become more pliable afterward.

Such is the case of the Black Wolf, also known as Gaius van Baelsar. Despite the unrest destabilizing his homeland, his own focus is maintained on his goals in Eorzea. On exterminating the primals.

And so we, in our great patience, have both experience and Ultima to offer him. The usefulness of such will overwhelm his suspicions in time. It shall also occupy his foes with summoning even stronger beings to hold his weapons at bay.

In such matters I recommend that we tilt them toward the Black Wolf’s victory. In this, we gain another pawn to use in the matters of Garlemald and their upcoming crisis of succession. The return of a triumphant general and his armies has oft proven dangerous to unestablished rulers without such victories to claim as their own.

The petty Emperors of this world do take so poorly to threats, and are manipulated in turn by them. But I must urge caution in this. None of them should even hear of such allies as were sought at the end of Allag, lest the failure of the Thirteenth spread unto the Source.

But Ultima at least is beyond the full knowledge of current mortals. It, once unearthed, can be turned more directly to our aims should cause arise.

In other matters of caution, I must also reiterate that a delicate hand is needed with the Black Wolf. He may behave unpredictably if he feels manipulated. For he has less tolerance for certain politics than those who remained in Garlemald’s heart. In this at least I expect he will not be as keen to grasp for his own power, that he will merely aim for the success of his cause.

It is the man who believes himself to act freely who is the most useful. A weapon directed toward our foes with barely the hint of our touch.

_Ever in service to the Rejoining,_

_Lahabrea_

## ADDENDUM REGARDING ULTIMA

Unfortunately, the loss of Gaius van Baelsar provides a notable setback to our goals in Eorzea, though I would not yet deem it an insurmountable one. We’ve already made significant inroads in both Ishgard and Dravania, our efforts aided by the resurgence of the Dragonsong War and the willingness of the Ishgardian heretics to accept our guidance. It should not be long until that pressure makes others nearby more amenable to our aims.

To have the threat of Ultima removed also allows for those Primals it had previously devoured to be summoned once again, that they may serve those tribes they once defended. Sadly, I expect any such efforts to prove a more temporary distraction to the defenders of Eorzea, but even brief threats serve us and wear down our enemies.

The upset in the Garlean Empire should continue to be of us, but my ongoing recommendation is that we maintain a careful watch for any potential levers to be utilized within the region. Emet-Selch’s efforts must not be wasted, not when we’ve drawn so close to the next phase of our grand design. I only regret that our responsibilities keep me from the pleasure of his company.

And while this succession crisis grants us many tools, it does somewhat weaken the pressure to be given to Eorzea itself. More than ever, we cannot allow Ishgard to come to their aid. They must be kept occupied with their own troubles, most notably the aforementioned Dragonsong War. And thus once I have recovered from certain unfortunate matters, I shall move to aid Igeyorhm in earnest. As has been clearly evidenced in her past, not all of us work best alone.

Between the two of us we will also be able to take full advantage of all the various factions within Ishgard and its surrounding environs that may prove amenable to our use. Every fracture between them is another crack in the barriers that keep us from the Great Rejoining. Every weakness waits for a wedge pressed into it at the proper moment.

We have the benefit of time, unlike the paltry, fragmented beings which oppose us. In such matters they cannot hope to match us, not when so few of them can even see the hands that pull at such cracks in their worlds. We will lay our temptations down among the heretics, the Vanu Vanu, and all other groups in these lands with some petty grievance to pursue against the others.

And there are always petty grievances among them. I wonder at times if they see in the other a fragment of what was, and hate them for the reminder. The other pieces of a self merely form a mirror to show all that they lack.

_Now secure within the void,_

_Lahabrea_

## REGARDING THE STRENGTHENING OF OUR EFFORTS IN ISHGARD AND ITS SURROUNDING ENVIRONS

I have attached my full report regarding the Primals recently summoned in the areas of Ishgard and Dravania. Igeyorhm has performed adequately so far, though I would not speak so well of her as to entrust any of these tasks to her alone. I still retain concerns that she might hesitate at the crucial time, lest she break another matter beyond repairing. 

Both the Vanu Vanu and the Gnath have brought forth their Primals already, with the first being summoned specifically by the sub-group known as the Vundu. This has thoroughly sundered matters among the birdmen, a useful tactic that has become more perilous due to the Garlean incursions nearby. It would not aid us to have the Primal Bismarck eliminated too swiftly. The Overmind of the Gnath proved a more unusual situation, but in solving it any divisions within them became immaterial. Those outside its reach are simply too small a factor to be worth weighing.

The leaders of Ishgard and the so-called heretics that oppose them are also both ripe for temptation on the matter of Primals. While the behavior of Lady Iceheart has made her less useful to our purposes, her nation possesses no shortage of other, more desperate souls. Through using such heretics and inflaming existing tensions our goals shall be assured.

And through the strength of both the Gnath and the Ishgardians we shall be able to press the dragons as well. The eldest of them still remember Bahamut and disdain the use of Primals, but if surrounded on all sides some of them shall prove useful to our aims. They remember their anger better than most. It is the one matter they are most useful in. 

It is only in the conflicts of Eorzea and its peoples that we build our strength, gaining our power through their divisions. To overplay our hand bears the risk of them uniting and making our offerings all too useless. 

The Ishgardians will have less need of crystals than the others, so their shipments are recommended as ideal targets once again. Already they plot to exploit any actions of their heretics, to turn blood into ill-formed wrath. We need only direct these weapons they offer us and keep them neither too weak nor too strong.

And it should not prove overly difficult to ensure each group can only claim so many crystals. Not when the world’s aether is already touched by the intrusions of Primals, by mortal ambition and fractured hubris.

There are so many lines upon which they can break.

_Ever in the service of Zodiark,_

_Lahabrea_

## REGARDING THE GNATH

The Gnath were an intriguing problem, one rare among all those which we have tempted. Internal divisions are easy to exploit, most especially in the light of external threats. But a group without such divisions, oh, that is an intriguing game to play. An echo of what once was. Of what must be again.

Still, the Gnath have their divides, of course. Even should we exclude the Vath, for the Overmind assigns different parts to disparate purposes. But these are no more distinct from the whole than hands or eyes from the body. Each being is merely another fragment; they are not bound by one. An intriguing sense of self that understands the greater whole. That is not so petty, so narrow as the other beings that occupy the Source and its remaining shards.

It was predictable that they would respond to an external threat with all their might if given the opportunity. To one battered dragon drifting low above them on a strand of air-tinged aether That it fell to within their grasp could have happened a thousand ways. Would have happened, in time. Hardly an intervention at all.

Then we simply needed to know their god to offer him. There are no subtle requests of the hive, but those outside it still hold their memories, and in the whispers of such connection we could find all that we needed. Then sever any trace of our inquiry.

And at least we did not need to work our way through the hive to speak to the Overmind. All it takes is for a worker to listen and all know hat you offer. Already they had set aside fear through their victory, and furthermore now through the creature of blades they created. What were a few more questions in light of that? What could threaten them when they’ve such a guide to lead them to war and the need for more aether? The Overmind does what it will. Who would claim ownership of such a force when merely a nudge is needed?

Beset by this as well, perhaps even the dragons will begin to bend. It does not matter who is victorious, so long as none of them win resoundingly. So long as victory brings disaster with it. Intertwines itself with the tensions of nations dependent and proud; with histories they will not honor.

The Gnath have claimed more territory already. Found weaknesses of those dragon broods not called to vengeance. Gnath warriors wear new hides and form sharper teeth into their weapons.

Who could not use more strength in these uncertain times? What body would reject the option of not losing their fingers, replaceable as they might be to the Gnath?

There will not be crystals enough for all of them, in time. And that is as it should be, to divide the denizens of this world against each other in their need. One can always draw blood forth from that.

_Whispering in a thousand ears,_

_Lahabrea_

## ISHGARD, CONTINUED

In time, it all begins to feel as if we are toying with insects. Beings which tread only upon the surface of their world even as its structure turns to dust beneath them. And then, their desperation returns. The cycle draws ever inward, tightens around their necks as the echoes of worlds fade back into the whole. 

The Heaven’s Ward will be ours to direct as well, though they will not see it. Such pride, such ambition. Forged from their war until they see no other way forward. And if they prove less pliable than I hope then the aether taken will be drained nonetheless. The relics of dragons devoid of their power. We can hold our grudges even better than Bahamut's children, nor have we forgotten the interference of their elder. But the swift knife has never been our way. Our lives are not so small as to depend on urgency.

And so we’ve watched the paltry games of politics, observed the aether as it weakens upon the islands of the sky sea. Found new cracks to widen between the shattered beings of the Source.

A whale in flight, or the memory of Shiva. The four-bladed insect of war; the veneration of past sins. All reflections of what has been. For we are a mirror to show the dark desires they will not admit to, the cost they speak of only in shadows. They know the price of Eikons, and who are we to deny them? Everything was changed by such beings before the world as it is was even known, and no such understanding is ever truly lost.

Only shattered. Waiting to be pieced back together.

To become as it once was. 

Our work is guarded closely, and Igeyorhm has continued to avail herself well. We observe the anger between the ruffled birdmen, the Vath lurking at the edges of the hive. Ishgard is ever a web of anger and mistrust, each conflict dividing in among itself as winter’s chill drives desperation, as rumors of heretics converge beneath every stone. 

And if the chill is biting, if the rumors under stone reveal scorpions and ice, well, is not their suspicion warranted? Desperate hope seeks any source of power. A strength to replace Iceheart, or to ensure one end or another. Simply not to fall behind. Perhaps it is that fear that is the strongest of them all.

For do not the dragons rebuild their strength? Does not the Overmind contemplate expansion yet again? Do the heretics have old wounds to exploit, the lower houses the bite of ice to mourn?

Sometimes, the wound must be broken again to be healed. And what little wounds they all are, unknowing. It is only in their pain that the greatest wound can be undone.

And what is the pain of insects compared to world that once was?

_Ever the Speaker of the Convocation,_

_Lahabrea_


End file.
